The Demon Within
by AlchemyOtaku0922
Summary: He definitely looked the same. But he certainly didn't feel it. He felt changed, somehow. Like something dark was growing inside the center of him. Something almost...evil. Rated for violence.
1. Danny

**Authors Note: Hi everybody! This is my first Danny Phantom story. It will be multi-chapter and alternate between perspectives of different characters (starting with Danny). I hope you all enjoy it! **

"Danny?"

The young boy stirred, slowly gaining back consciousness. He could catch small snippets of reality around him. A small crack on the white ceiling, a plaid mini-skirt, a red, worn-out beret.

_I'm in my room. Sam and Tucker are here. I'm all right. _

These thoughts calmed Danny considerably. He had been a bit scared seeing as how he couldn't recall much of the events leading up to this moment, he could only pick up bits and pieces. Fleeting memories.

"He's waking up!" A male voice proclaimed.

They had been at the arcade? No, that was earlier. They were at Nasty Burger when his ghost sense went off. Danny had excused himself and made a quick dash to the bathroom so he could go ghost.

Danny remembered making some witty remark to the ghost, as he always did before beginning a fight, but the spook had no time for humor. He was there for a reason, and he didn't take too kindly with the town hero getting in his way.

"Danny, how are you feeling?"

The halfa had thought that he could make quick work of the creature-he looked weak enough, after all. Perhaps he had been a bit too cocky, because, a moment later, the teen was being hurled to the ground. This new ghost was more powerful than he had estimated.

"I'm…fine." Danny finally spoke, still struggling with his foggy memories.

The moments in between events were hazy, so they didn't help much, but the last thing he could force himself to remember was a feeling. Or rather, a mix of feelings. Anger. Frustration. Humiliation.

_That's weird. _Danny thought. _Where did those emotions come from? _

"That's a relief," Tucker spoke, seeming to relax at the sound of his best friend's voice. "I was getting worried."

"Me too," Sam admitted. She looked back down at Danny, who had just a minute ago been passed out on his own bed. Concern brimmed in the Goth girl's eyes. "Are you _positive _you're okay?" She double-checked. She was always worrying about him.

Danny nodded slowly as he sat up, realizing the terrible headache he had acquired. He looked back and forth between his two friends, feeling a touch guilty. They always seemed to be rushing to his aide. However, he couldn't help himself but to smile, despite the nagging guilt. They were such good friends to always do this so willingly.

The smile was quickly wiped away as he noticed some poorly-wrapped bandages covering Tucker's left arm.

"What happened?" Danny demanded. "Did the ghost do that to you?"

Tucker looked surprised at the question, which Danny didn't understand. It was a perfectly reasonably question. His confusion rose as Tucker threw an uncertain look at Sam, having one thrown back at him, and finally responding to Danny with, "Dude, don't you remember?"

"I…" The raven-haired teen searched his mind once more for the memories he seemed to lack. Nothing resurfaced. "No," He answered honestly. "not past the beginning of the fight, anyway."

"Danny…you were acting…really strange." Sam explained carefully.

"What do you mean?" He inquired.

"Well, after you were knocked to the ground, you went a little…" Sam paused, as if she was considering the next word. "crazy." She finally decided.

Danny flinched. Sam and Tucker knew very well that he hated that word. _But, _he reflected, _I suppose knowing that, Sam wouldn't use it unless it were really true. _

"You looked so…_angry,_" she continued, "it was actually pretty scary. It's like you weren't even…_you._"

Danny frowned. The look on his friend's face made his heart drop into his stomach. She seemed haunted by the memory of whatever happened that night, and he felt bad that he couldn't even share that memory with her.

_There's that guilt again. _Danny thought.

"You seemed to be focusing all your energy on that one ghost. You blasted him with a plasma ray, using all your strength, and, when he tried to run away, you pulled him back. You were totally wailing on him. He looked so miserable, I pulled out the Fenton Thermos just to put him out of his misery." Sam seemed to shudder as she replayed the scene.

Danny's eyes widened in shock as he listened to Sam's description. The way she described it, and judging by the look on her face, he sounded more animal than human _or _ghost. He sounded like a…_monster._

He glanced at Tucker to make sure this wasn't some joke, but his face was dead serious, not a single trace of a smile interrupted it. Sam was telling the truth. This had really happened.

"But, wait," Danny spoke, "what does any of this have to do with Tucker's injury?"

Sam bit her lip nervously. "Well…" She mumbled, hesitantly. "After the ghost was gone, you turned to me, angry. I've never seen a more hateful expression," Her face was twisted in agony, as if it just hurt to recall it. This caused yet another pang of guilt in Danny's stomach. "You aimed a plasma blast right towards me…Tucker saw what you were about to do, and he jumped out in front of me."

Danny sat for a moment in complete shock. He would never aim an attack towards Sam. _Ever._ He looked back to his other friend. Tucker was sitting in silence with a solemn expression on his face.

Danny let his eyes wander back down to the injury. The boy was completely flooded with guilt by this point; he had gone crazy, hurt his best friend, and there was nothing he could do to fix any of it.

"Tuck, I am _so _sorry," He sincerely apologized. "I don't…I don't know what came over me. I can't even make myself remember _doing _any of this."

Tucker shook his head. "No, man. Don't worry about it. I'm fine. _We're _fine."

Tucker expression was one of sincerity, but nonetheless, Danny still felt awful.

"After that, you seemed to go back to normal," Sam finished. "your eyes lightened up. They were much less…" she searched for the right word to use, "menacing. After that, you passed out and fell to the ground before changing back into your human self."

Danny flopped back down on his bed suddenly, taking this all in. He ignored the pain that radiated throughout his skull. "This won't happen again, guys," he whispered, closing his eyes. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Nothing's wrong with you, man," Tucker assured him. "Maybe there's just something wonky going on with your ghost half right now."

Sam quickly opened her mouth, as if she were going to suggest something, but ultimately decided against it and closed it again.

"Were you going to say something, Sam?" Danny questioned, desperate to try anything that might fix the problem.

"Well," She started, hesitantly, "I was just going to suggest that _maybe _you might _possibly _under _some_ circumstance ask…Vlad for advice?" The end of the sentence came out in a rush, as she was almost afraid to suggest it because she knew Danny wouldn't like the idea.

Danny glared at the thought of the billionaire, half-ghost prick. "Vlad?" He scoffed. "As if Vlad would ever help me anyway, even if I _wanted _him to."

"She does kind of have a point," Tucker agreed. "I mean, Vlad's had his ghost powers a lot longer than you have. Maybe he knows something about this. Maybe it's normal for stuff like this to happen."

"It's normal to attack your best friends?" Danny muttered under his breath. Although, he did have to admit that Sam and Tucker might have a point. Vlad's had his ghost powers a considerable longer amount of time than himself. He could actually prove quite helpful.

_As if Vlad would allow himself to be _helpful_. _Danny thought dismissively.

"I think I'm just going to try and figure this one out on my own, guys," He professed. He noted his friends' unsure expressions. "And I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused," He added. "Really. I appreciate you guys putting up with all of…_this._" He told them, referring to his ghost powers in general.

Tucker gave his friend a soft smile. "Dude, it's cool. We're your friends _and _ghost-fighting partners. It's what we do."

Danny chuckled, glad to see Tucker held no resentment towards him for what happened. He was lucky to have found such great friends that accept him, no matter what.

"We have to get going," Sam announced, checking the time on her cell phone. "It's getting late," She and Tucker stood, grabbing their bags. "If you need anything, just call."

They began walking out before Sam stopped and turned back towards Danny, who was starting to feel tired again at this point. "One more thing. Jazz saw us bring you home. We told her you got hurt during a ghost fight, but we didn't tell her anything else."

Danny smiled at his friends' loyalty. "Thanks, guys." He told them. He genuinely meant it. They would never know how much their friendship meant to him.

As soon as he heard his bedroom door shut, Danny was left alone with his thoughts. _How could I have even _thought _about hurting Sam or Tucker? They're like, the best friends anyone could ever have. What happened to me back there? _

He slowly stood from bed, careful not to strain himself too much. He wasn't sure of all his injuries yet, and he didn't know how weak he'd be. He carefully made his way to his bedroom mirror, studying himself. He had gained a few scratches; nothing that wouldn't heal by tomorrow morning, though. He would probably just be really sore along with having a persisting headache.

He began examining himself closer. He didn't look any different. Same messy, matted, black hair. Same shimmering blue eyes. Same skinny, frail body and pale skin. Same worn-out expression he always seemed to wear nowadays.

No, he definitely _looked _the same. But he certainly didn't _feel _it. He felt changed, somehow. Like something dark was growing inside the center of him. Something almost..._evil. _

He was changing, and he didn't like it.

"Maybe I _am _going crazy." He muttered miserably to himself. Those were the last words he spoke before turning off his light switch and crawling back into the comfort of his bed.


	2. Tucker

**Authors Note: Sorry for the semi-long wait! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Btw, this chapter is supposed to be sort of in Tucker's perspective. Any advice or whatever you guys can give me would be great :) Please enjoy! **

Danny was definitely acting strange. First there was that incident with the ghost. That night where he had attacked Tucker.

Not that Tucker held a grudge; he knew it wasn't intentional. Danny was his best friend; he would have _never_ attacked him like that if he had been thinking straight.

The thing that _really_ concerned Tucker was how Danny had acted after that; quiet, reserved, distant. He still walked with his two friends every day, he still fought ghosts with them, his regular activities continued as normal; but, during the days that followed the incident, he had kept more to himself than ever.

Tucker could only imagine what was going on in his friend's head. He knew he must be blaming himself. Danny was always too hard on himself. Tucker had tried to talk to him about what happened, to assure him that he didn't blame him and that neither did Sam, to remind him that they were his best friends and they weren't upset with him, but whenever he brought it up, Danny would quickly change the subject. It was obvious he was trying to avoid the conversation, and if he didn't want to talk about it, Tucker wasn't going to push it.

Still, he couldn't help but to feel concerned for Danny. He had completely lost control that night, what if it happened again? What if something worsehappened the next time? What if there _were _a next time?

"Have I ever mentioned how much I hate P.E.?" Danny asked, interrupting Tucker's thoughts.

Tucker snickered. "_No one_ likes P.E." Tucker pointed out, "except for maybe the jocks who take it too seriously."

Danny gave a light smile at that as he headed into the boys locker room.

_He hasn't been smiling very much lately. _Tucker noted-quite regretfully-as he followed Danny. _It's nice to see him smile._

"At least it's Friday," Danny commented, turning to face his equally un-athletic friend to continue the conversation. He took a few more steps forward without watching where he was going, and sure enough, he felt himself run into something, or rather, _someone. _

"Watch where you're going Fen-_turd._" Dash Baxter sneered, giving Danny a shove backwards.

Tucker flinched. This was going to end badly.

"Sorry, Dash." Danny muttered with an insincere, annoyed tone.

Apparently the bully picked up on his sarcasm, he added an angry scowl to his intense glare. "I can't deal with this right now, _Fenton_," he spat the name like it was poison, "I've got a lot to deal with right now."

Danny chuckled darkly. "Like _what_?" He questioned, his anger noticeably rising.

Tucker did a quick scan of the room for someone to help, but the students had all ready abandoned the sweat-drenched walls for their next classes. With a sigh, he turned his attention back to the forming feud.

"I'm under a lot of stress," Dash answered, matter-of-factly.

Danny twitched at the comment. Tucker's fear for his friend was rapidly increasing. _Please don't do something stupid, Danny. _He mentally begged.

"I've got a _big_ game tonight. It could decide my entire high school career! I can't screw up."

Tucker examined his half-ghost friend. His teeth were clenched together, obviously trying to hold back screams. His hands were clenched into fists-he could tell Dash was one comment away from being punched square in the jaw-but, what really made Tucker worry was the fact that Danny's eyes were glowing a dangerously dark shade of green.

"_You _wouldn't have any idea what's that like," Dash scoffed, "to have so many people counting on you."

Danny lost it.

"You're right, Dash. I wouldn't know what that's like," He snapped, his voice dripping in sarcasm. "I would have _no fucking clue _what it's like to have so many people depend on you. It's not like I don't spend every single day trying my best, just to be shot down and dragged back to reality by the very people I'm trying to help. I can't figure out how in the world it would feel to have so many people rely on you, but if just _one thing _goes wrong, for them to all turn around and blame _you, _even though you're trying your hardest and you're doing the best you can."

Tucker placed a comforting hand on his best friend's shoulder. "Come on, man," He urged. "It's not worth it."

Danny slapped the hand away, leaving the computer geek in a shocked state.

"No, Tuck," He growled, his tone dangerously low. "I'm only telling poor Dash what a _shame _it is that he has to deal with so much pressure. Constantly being beat to the ground, having your self-esteem pulverized on a daily basis-"

"You need help, dude. Seriously." Dash interrupted.

In a flash, Danny was on top of Dash, one punch being thrown after another. Tucker saw flashes of red, but the fact that Dash's face was a bloody mess didn't stop Danny. He kept going, and it seemed like his fury was growing more and more by the second. The scene was completely terrifying to watch. This wasn't Danny. _This wasn't Danny. _

"Danny!" Tucker called out, trying to stop his friend, but the halfa was too far gone at this point. He was trapped in a cage of his own dark thoughts, disconnecting him with reality. Tucker decided to try another method to catch his attention and pull him out of this state.

He grabbed hold of Danny, trying to pull him off of the terrified jock. Unfortunately, the boy really wasn't himself. His reaction to Tucker's attempts was to knock his friend away.

The blow Tucker received to his gut sent him flying back. He would never underestimate Danny's ghost powers again, that's for sure.

A pain surged through his skull. That was definitely going to hurt in the morning.

He managed to sit up, letting a pain-filled groan escape, to see Danny blinking, as if he were coming out of a daze. Dash took this break in abuse as his opportunity to flee.

He pushed the crazy boy off of him, getting up and running out of their as fast as he could. As the door shut, the tardy bell for class rang.

"We're late." Tucker breathed, still trying to regain the air that had been knocked out of him. He locked eyes with Danny. His friend's eyes had returned to their regular shade of blue, but they were now filled with confusion and regret.

No words were spoken-they didn't need to be. Tucker and Danny had a silent understanding of the situation. Danny knew he had screwed up again, and Tucker knew it wasn't his friend's fault. There was definitely something wrong-they couldn't avoid it anymore.

Tucker picked himself up, offering a hand to Danny, who was still paralyzed by shock on the floor. Danny attempted to muster a fake, grateful smile as he took the hand, pulling himself up.

"We'll get this sorted out," Tucker assured him. "Whatever it is that's going on with you…it'll be okay."

Danny slowly nodded. He seemed a bit comforted by his best friend's words, but he still seemed shaken up by what just happened.

"Let's get to class," Tucker suggested, trying to lighten the mood. He put a smile on, trying to make a joke. "Lancer's gonna kill us." There was no laughter from Danny.

The two boys quietly made their way to class, an uneasiness settling in the air.

xxxxx

Tucker was sitting in his last class of the day, one he shared with Sam.

He quietly pulled out a piece of paper, jotted some words down, and passed it to Sam, making sure to keep on eye on the teacher while he did this to make sure he wasn't caught passing notes in class.

Same opened it up to reveal Tucker's chicken-scratch handwriting.

**Something's up with Danny. **

Sam furrowed her brow at the note, confused at vague message. She shot a look at Tucker, one containing concern, confusion, and curiosity. She then picked up her own pen and began writing something back in purple ink.

_**You mean the way he's been acting lately? **_

She waited a few minutes before passing it back, making sure it was safe. It was a few more before Tucker returned the piece of paper.

**Something happened. I'll explain later. We'll talk after school. **

Sam turned to Tucker and gave a curt nod before turning her attention back to the front of the classroom to pretend like she was actually listening to the lesson.

xxxxx

As the final bell rang, all the Casper High students rushed for the doors, teacher's calling out a quick reminder about homework being due Monday-not that any of the teens were listening. All that were on their minds were their plans for the weekend, work being the last on the list.

This was on all the kids' minds except, of course, three students who usually spent their weekends fighting ghosts and just trying to keep the town safe.

Tucker was much too concerned for what was happening to Danny at the moment, and he was sure that the boy was occupying Sam's thoughts at the moment as well.

As the two approached Danny's locker, Tucker noted his clearly exhausted features. His eyes had bags under them, and the half-ghost was struggling to keep them open. He was slumped over, slowly gathering his books for the weekend, all the while maintaining a miserable expression.

"Dude, you look terrible." Tucker commented.

"I feel the same," Danny countered in a tired tone. He sighed before pulling out the last of his books. "At least it's Friday and I can go home and just rest awhile before-"

Before Danny could finish, an announcement blared over the loudspeaker. _"Danny Fenton, please report to the office." _

Danny let out a groan as he hit his head against his locker, clearly frustrated. "Really? _Really?_" He exclaimed.

"Danny, just relax," Tucker offered, trying to comfort his distressed friend. "It's probably nothing; I'm sure you'll be able to go home soon. Just…try to get some rest this weekend, okay?" He tried not to sound too worried. He didn't want to stress Danny out anymore than he all ready was by making a big deal of it, but…the whole thing wish Dash earlier that day really made Tucker wonder what was going on in his friend's head.

"That's easy for _you _to say, Tucker," Danny snapped. "You have no idea what I'm growing through. You have no idea how _exhausted_ I am."

Tucker was a little taken back at the outburst. All he had been trying to do was help his friend, Danny didn't have to explode on him like that. Although, Tucker did understand that Danny wasn't really himself at the moment.

The halfa noticed Tucker's surprised reaction and he tried to calm himself down. "Sorry, Tuck," He muttered. "I'm just…really stressed right now."

"It's cool, man," He assured the raven-haired teen, "Forget it." Tucker really didn't mind Danny's attitude. They were best friends, they had an understanding of each other, and Tucker understood that Danny wouldn't act like this normally. It was fine, even if Danny didn't seem to think so.

"It's not cool," Danny insisted. "Sorry I'm acting like such a jerk. Really." The boy really did seem apologetic. Tucker knew that Danny hated putting Sam and himself through all of his ghost problems, and he probably thought he owed a lot to the two, but his friends didn't mind being there for him. They chose to. They were glad to. Danny didn't seem to understand that.

"Don't' sweat it, dude," Tucker argued, placing his hand on his shoulder. "Okay?" He glared determinedly at Danny, giving off a look that said 'I'm serious'.

Danny mustered a weak smile. Tucker always did know how to cheer him up. "Yeah, okay." He mumbled half-heartedly.

Tucker smiled in return. He removed his hand after patting Danny's shoulder, moving to pick up his bag. "We gotta get going, dude, but we'll meet up later, okay?"

Before Danny could reply, Tucker and Sam were off, waving goodbye as their footsteps echoed through the near-empty corridor.

_I really hope he's okay. _Tucker thought, as he pulled the school's front doors open for Sam.

"So," Sam asked, as the pair strolled down the street towards the Goth girl's house. "What happened with Danny?"

Tucker paused for a moment, contemplating the best way to explain. He considered cutting some things out, so the whole gruesome story didn't upset her _too _much, but ultimately decided to just be brutally honest with her. She had a right to know too, after all. He would start from the beginning.

"Well…"


	3. Danny 2

**Authors Note: Okay, this chapter is a little bit shorter, but I hope you guys still enjoy it! **

Danny's heart sank as he stepped into the office. He instantly recognized the bulky figure sitting across from Mr. Lancer as Dash Baxter. He also noticed that Dash had a black eye and was holding a towel to his nose, trying to stop blood that was still gushing from his and Danny's earlier scuffle.

"Y-you wanted to see me?" Danny inquired, even though he knew what this was about.

Mr. Lancer held a confused expression as he gave a slow nod. "Yes…please take a seat, Mr. Fenton."

Danny took a breath before obediently sitting down on chair which was situated uncomfortably close to the infuriated jock. He kept his eyes on Mr. Lancer, but he could feel Dash's heated glare burning into the side of his head. This was going to be worse than he thought.

_So much for resting today. _Danny thought bitterly.

"So," Mr. Lancer started, "Dash says that you…_attacked _him. Is this correct?"

Danny resented the bewildered look on Lancer's face. He acted as if the raven-haired boy _couldn't _have attacked Dash, he was much too weak. As if the scrawny teenager stood no chance against the star football player.

If only they know how powerful he _really _was. If only they knew how easily he could _destroy _all of them if he wanted to.

"That's right." Danny responded calmly, reminding himself not to let his anger get the best of him.

_Not again. _He mentally added.

"Why?" The vice-principal asked, shocked that Danny seemed to casual about it.

"He ticked me off." The ghost boy replied simply. This was _so _stupid. Dash got away with this stuff all the time. The one time that Danny decides to fight back, he ends up in the office.

Lancer stared at him in amazement for a moment. The boy was definitely blunt, but at least he was honest.

"Well, Mr. Fenton, I'm afraid this is a serious offense. We don't tolerate _bullying _at Casper High," Danny rolled his eyes. He had been bullied for _years. _No one was ever there to help _him. _"Also, Mr. Baxter's nose could be broken; this may prevent him from playing in the big game tonight,"

_If he's hurt so badly, why isn't he in the hospital instead of here, getting me in trouble for something he does every day? _Danny thought bitterly, his anger growing by the minute.

"So," Lancer continued, "your punishment will be a three day suspension. I've all ready called your parents and informed them."

Danny felt like screaming. A three day suspension? If he and Dash had switched positions, Dash would be getting off with a warning and a "good luck at the game!", not a three day suspension.

On the other hand, what did he expect? He was Danny Fenton. Nothing was ever easy or fair from him. It was like the universe loved to watch him constantly fall flat on his face. No matter what he did or said it was wrong. He shouldn't think this situation would be any different.

"Whatever." He muttered through clenched teeth.

Mr. Lancer wanted to scold the teenager for his bad attitude, but he figured it wouldn't do him any good. "You may go." He said dismissively.

Danny pushed his chair out as he stood up, causing a loud screech as the legs slid against the linoleum floor. He then proceeded to storm out of the room, leaving both Dash and Mr. Lancer with shocked expressions.

He paced outside in the hall for a minute, clenching and unclenching his fists, not sure what to do with all the anger that was quickly consuming him.

He finally decided to fly around a bit before heading home. He wasn't really in a rush to get back to Fenton Works, anyway. All that was waiting for him there were two angry parents and a sister who would stick her nose into his business and over-analyze the situation with her psychological babble.

Besides, if he was going to get yelled at, he might as well cool down a bit beforehand. There was no point in letting his anger get the best of him and end up running his mouth or something to get himself in more trouble than he all ready was.

Danny took a deep breath before going ghost, not really caring if anyone saw, and took off.

xxxxx

The short flight had not really succeeded in calming him down, but after his day at school and then aimlessly flying around the city, all he really wanted to do at the moment was lie down and sleep, and he knew he wouldn't be able to do that peacefully until he was confronted about his parents about the suspension.

He sighed before hesitantly opening the door. As he stepped inside, he noticed the lights were off.

_Great! _Danny thought excitedly. _Maybe they're not here. Maybe I can just go upstairs and- _

"Daniel Fenton! Where have you been?"

_Or not. _

He turned towards the living room couch where the hostile voice had came from. His mother and father were both sitting there, their arms crossed, with stern expressions plastered on their faces. This wasn't good. He would need a good excuse for coming home so late.

"I'm sorry," he began, "I just went for a walk and lost track of time," It was amazing how easily lies flowed out of his mouth anymore. "I didn't realize how late it was-"

"Save it!" Maddie shouted, obviously a lot more angry than Danny had anticipated. "What's this about you being suspended from school? And for _fighting, _at that!"

"Again, I'm sorry, I just-"

"This isn't like you, Danny." She interrupted. "Is there something wrong? What's going on with you lately?"

Danny growled, frustrated. Every time he tried to answer her he would be cut off.

"Danny! Answer me when I'm speaking to you!"

Danny rolled his icy-blue eyes. _Now _she wanted him to speak.

"I don't know what's wrong with me!" He snapped. "Maybe I'm just a little tired of all this!"

Maddie was quiet, taken back by her son's sudden outburst.

"What do you mean, Danny?" Jack asked, his voice a tad more gentle than his wife's had been.

"I'm just stressed out, okay?" Danny exclaimed. "I have a lot going on and…" He realized he might be saying too much. He couldn't be so careless of his secret identity. "And…Dash deserved it, anyway. It's not like he's never done it to me."

"Honey, if you were being bullied you should have told us," Maddie told him, a bit more sympathetically. "But you still handled it the wrong way. You're grounded until your suspension is over."

"What? But the Dumpty Humpty concert is this weekend!" Danny protested.

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you got into a fight." Jack offered.

Danny was about to argue, but he realized it would only make things worse. Instead, he clenched his mouth shut and grinded his teeth together, trying to contain his growing rage. "Fine," He muttered miserably. "Can I go to my room now?"

Maddie and Jack exchanged glances, as if they were having an unspoken debate, before Maddie finally gave a nod. "Dinner will be done in an hour so." She informed him.

Danny stomped up the stairs, making a point that he was upset. Just for good measure, he even slammed his bedroom door. It may have been a bit childish, but Danny hardly cared at the moment.

"This is so stupid." The halfa muttered through gritted teeth. "This is so _unfair." _

He flopped down on his bed, staring at his ceiling. It was covered in glow-in-the-dark plastic stars and model rocket ships. _I wish I could be in space right now._ Danny thought._ All by myself. I could enjoy all that beauty and not have to think about all the stress back here on Earth. _

He wished he could talk to Sam and Tucker right now. At least _they _would agree that everyone was overreacting.

Wait. Ghost powers, duh.

Danny went ghost, considering what would happen if he was caught sneaking out. He would probably be grounded for another week or two. That wouldn't be so bad. He could sneak out whenever he wanted, anyway. Once he thought about it, he could really do anything he wanted. Maybe this weekend he'd go to that Dumpty Humpty concert after all.

He chuckled to himself quietly before exiting out the window. Partly at himself for not thinking to do this sooner, and partly at his parents for how clueless they were sometimes.

As he took off into the sky, he saw a flash of red hair from the house. Jazz. She had been watching him from her bedroom window.

Danny sighed. That would be a problem later. When he got back Jazz would have a million questions for him. "Why did you get in that fight with Dash? Why did you sneak out? Why are you always so angry lately? What's going on?"

Danny really didn't want to play psychological 20 Questions with his sister, but he could deal with that later. Right now he was just going to concentrate on getting to his friends.


	4. Sam

**Authors Note: I keep re-reading this and I'm still not satisfied with this chapter, but I hope you all enjoy it, regardless :) I appreciate all the reviews and patience so far. Hopefully chapters will be coming quicker. **

Sam was more than a little surprised as Tucker relayed the details of the locker room scene from earlier. This wasn't like Danny. The Danny she knew was kind, compassionate, and thoughtful; a true hero. Sometimes he got a bit mixed up, but he _was _just a teenager. When you're a teenager, you're bound to screw up a few times. But, to be so violent was completely out of character for her friend. Danny was the good guy, and this _wasn't _how the good guy was supposed to act.

"I'm honestly getting scared," Tucker admitted. "and I don't know what to do about it, which is even scarier."

Sam stayed quiet, considering what Tucker was saying. _Was _there anything they could do? The problem was obviously something wrong with Danny's ghost half. Maybe it was starting to affect his brain. But what could they do to change that? Not even Danny knew all that much about the ghost realm, and her and Tucker were kind of just sidekicks.

"Maybe talking to Vlad isn't such a bad idea after all." Tucker suggested.

Sam only paused a second before shaking her head. "Danny would never agree to that," She argued. "First of all, he hates Vlad. Secondly; he has too much pride to ask _anyone _for help, let alone his arch-enemy."

"Well then _we'll _just talk to Vlad. I mean, we have to do _something, _and Vlad will have a better idea of what's going on with Danny then we do," Tucker paused. "Danny doesn't have to know." He finished, almost as a guilty afterthought. His friends never liked going behind his back, but sometimes it was for the best.

Sam sighed. She didn't like the idea, but she was worried about Danny. He was her best friend. The boy meant a lot to her, more than she liked to admit. She couldn't bare to just sit around and watch him destroy himself and all he had worked so hard for.

"Fine," Sam caved. "But…not yet. Let's give him a chance. If anything else happens, _then_ we'll talk to Vlad." The feeling of wanting to save Danny dramatically outweighed the urge to respect his wishes, but the nagging feeling was still there. She didn't want to jump to any drastic decisions.

Tucker gave a satisfied smirk. Sam couldn't tell if it was because he had won the debate, and Tucker always liked to be right, or if it was because he found some comfort in having a plan. Tucker was like that. Always planning. His whole life was organized, and he liked it that way. Sam respected that.

Content with the subject, they switched to less heavy topics such as what was in the mystery meat at school and the upcoming Dumpty Humpty concert on Sunday. The conversation had focused on video games when Danny in his Phantom form materialized into the room. Even though both Sam and Tucker were used to Danny's ghost powers by now, they still both jumped at the sudden entrance.

"Dude, don't do that, you scared us." Tucker joked, but the currently white-haired teen was _not _in a joking mood, which he made abundantly clear by pacing back in forth in a panicky motion in front of his friends, who were still seated on the couch, with an angry expression frozen on his face.

"Is…something wrong?" Sam finally asked, after a few moments of this repetitive action.

"'Is something wrong?'" Danny mocked sarcastically, breaking his pattern. "Yeah, only _everything_!"

"Hey, just calm down, man," Tucker interjected. "She's only trying to help."

Danny turned to him, acting as if he was going to yell, or hit him, or something equally as dramatic, but instead just took a deep breath before going into an apology. "I'm sorry. I just…" He stopped, rubbing his temples, acting as if it hurt just to think. "I'm just angry."

"Why?" Sam questioned calmly, trying to ignore the boy's biting tone.

"Well," Danny began, looking to his darkly-dressed friend, "The whole reason I got called to the office in the first place is because I got in this fight with Dash…"

"I all ready told her what happened earlier." Tucker interrupted, saving Danny the explanation.

"Wait," Sam spoke up. "Dash went to the principal about it?" The way that Tucker described it, she wouldn't be surprised if the jock had been seriously injured, but she never expected him to be the kind of guy to go crying about it to the principal. She thought he had more pride than that.

"Well, Mr. Lancer handled it, but yeah, pretty much," Danny confirmed. His tone was snappy and annoyed. He acted as if he didn't know what to do with himself, twitching or adjusting his shirt or hair every five seconds. "He said I'm suspended for three days." The half-ghost began scratching at his upper arm angrily, trying to release his emotion without totally exploding and destroying everything in the room. Red marks appeared rather quickly, and Sam felt like saying something, but was too surprised by what he had just told them.

"Seriously?" She questioned. "And he suspended you?" Tucker stayed quiet, and Sam could tell he wasn't as shocked as she was.

_Well he was there to actually see it. _Sam thought. _And he did say it was pretty bad…but had it really been so bad that _Dash _would go to Mr. Lancer? He beats Danny up every day, he didn't really have a right to snitch. No right at all._

"Yeah," Danny replied tersely. "And Mr. Lancer called my parents and told them, so now I'm grounded until the suspension is over, which means I can't go to the concert."

"What? Lame!" Sam proclaimed, upset by this new development. She was hating Dash more and more by the minute. They had been planning this concert for months now.

"If you're grounded, then how are you here?" Tucker questioned.

"I kind of just stormed off to my room and then flew off." Danny replied, flopping down on the couch with the other two teens.

"Sneaking out probably isn't the best way to get on your parents good side right now." Tucker suggested. Sam didn't understand why Tucker seemed to be against everything Danny was saying. Aren't friends supposed to stick up for each other? Who's side was he on, anyway?

"I don't care," Danny responded. "I had to get out of there. They're being totally unfair. They didn't even _care_ that he does the same thing to me _every. Single. Day._"

Sam had to admit that it **was** unfair. Dash had never been punished for hurting Danny, but as soon as he fought back, Danny ended up with a suspension.

On the other hand, she also had to consider that the damage that the football player did was probably never half as bad as what Danny was capable of doing.

Regardless, Dash's bullying was a constant thing in Danny's life, and all the boy had done was get a small bit of revenge.

She allowed herself a smirk. She hadn't seen Dash yet, but she knew he had to look terrible by the time Danny was done with him. It would be nice to see Dash get what has been coming to him for once.

She debated whether or not to feel guilty for that thought, but ultimately decided not to. Dash did kind of deserve it, anyway.

She didn't think about the fact that Danny had lost control. She didn't think about the fact that he was totally losing himself. She couldn't think about the fact that his ghost half taking over. If she had, she would have totally lost it. She would have totally lost it because she was totally losing _him_, and she knew it. She knew it in the back of her mind, and it was trying to climb it's way up, but she managed to push it back down, play it off as no big deal. The thought was still there, however, nagging at her, gnawing at her stomach, slowly killing her from the inside. The same thought that was all ready ingrained in Tucker's mind, the one that was making him act the way he was acting.

She turned to look at their other friend. The techno geek was sitting, hunched over, with his head in his hands. He wore a frown and seemed very upset by Danny's attitude towards the whole situation. He knew, just as Sam knew, that he was losing his friend, but instead of pretending like it wasn't true and ignoring the problem as Sam was, he was trying to express his indignation towards Danny's new Phantom-powered personality without angering him. It would probably help, Sam reflected, to have some support, and he _was _probably right in his actions, but she wasn't quite ready to accept that Danny might actually be able to become…evil.

"That's ridiculous," She merely spoke instead. "You should be allowed to go the concert." Well, ignorance is bliss, and Sam was more than happy to ignore Danny's potentially dangerous future.

"Oh, I'm still going." Danny assured her.

"How?" Tucker questioned. "I know you're a good talker and all, but there is no way you're going to convince your parents to let you out of that house." Sam could tell that he was subtly begging Danny not to go to the concert and cause more trouble, not to go down the path, but it wasn't as obvious to Danny.

"I don't have to," Danny told him. "I have ghost powers, remember? It's not exactly hard to sneak out of the house. I mean, I'm here, right?" The boy's lack of morals did not go unnoticed by his friends.

Sam noted that it seemed like Danny had relaxed a little, however, even though he was still restlessly tapping his foot. She was glad to see he was calming down a little.

"I _really _don't think that's a good idea." Tucker advised.

"Why not?" Danny snapped. So much for that whole 'calming down' thing.

"I'm just saying, maybe it would be best not to make your parents any more angry at you than they all ready are…" Tucker seemed hesitant for a moment before continuing, he could see Danny's eye twitching in anger. "Besides…maybe it would be best just to stay and have a nice, calm weekend."

"What are you saying?" Danny spat, fury apparent on his face.

"Nothing, just that…" Tucker sighed. "Dude, we all know you've been acting weird lately. I saw the way you attacked Dash. _It's not like you. _You've been so angry all the time lately and maybe you should just try to take it easy for awhile."

"So I should just ditch the concert I've been waiting to go to for months on account of _Dash?" _Danny exclaimed, quickly standing up.

Sam's heart sank. She didn't like where this was going. Neither Tucker nor Danny were one to back down from an argument, one of them was bound to go too far.

"No," Tucker countered, standing up from his seat as well, "you should stay home from the concert because there's something wrong with you and we don't know what's going to set you off anymore!"

He just went too far.

"That'll just about do it." Danny growled through clenched teeth, eyes glowing green. It was obvious that it was taking him all his energy just to stop himself from punching his best friend in the face.

Sam, not wanting to see an actually fist-fight break out between the two, decided to intervene.

"Guys," She interrupted, standing between them. "Let's just all chill out, okay? We're all a little upset-"

Suddenly, Danny's hand shot out and grabbed hold of the girl's arm. In retrospect, it probably wasn't the best idea to stand in front of angry, super-powered, out-of-control teenager who had a history of attacking people as of late.

"Don't tell me to chill out!" He yelled. "If one more person tells me to 'calm down' or 'chill out' I swear to God I'll-"

"You'll what?" Tucker shouted. "Hurt your friends worse than you all ready have?"

Danny seemed shocked by Tucker's outburst. He looked back to Sam regretfully and released his hold on her, which she girl was thankful for. She carefully rubbed the now scratched and bleeding spot where his nails had dug into her, a bit of fear now gracing her expression. Danny's eyes were suddenly filled with horror.

"S-Sam, I…" The half-ghost stopped, knowing there was nothing he could say to make up for what he had done.

Sam wanted to say something. She wanted to tell him it was okay, or that she wasn't upset, but she couldn't. Even if those things were true, which they weren't, she wouldn't be able to force any words out of her mouth at the moment, anyway. All she could do was stare at him, stunned and hurt, until he finally disappeared out of the roof and ascended into the sky.

If there was one thing she knew, it was that she couldn't pretend anymore. There was no more ignoring it. Danny was changing.


End file.
